The Black Women’s Player Collective is transforming the NWSL, with an expressed mission to elevate the image, value, and representation of Black women and athletes. Made up of the 43 Black women competing in the NWSL, the BWPC has worked to address the racial and social inequality present in the league and beyond since its 2020 inception.

Margaret “Midge” Purce, the Executive Director of the BWPC, stopped by the Just Women’s Sports podcast Snacks to talk with Sam Mewis and Lynn Williams about the collective’s origin story.

“The BWPC was born out of the Challenge Cup in 2020, when there were a lot of protests going on about Breonna Taylor and George Floyd, and the NWSL was in a bubble at the Challenge Cup,” Purce says.

The organization, however, wasn’t created in direct response to the protests across the nation, but rather the NWSL’s response to the national reckoning around race.

Purce recalls all the teams being in an “extremely tumultuous, stressful, overwhelming place” as people were “deciding whether or not they felt comfortable with kneeling during the anthem.”

“Truthfully, the protests didn’t spark these, in my experience, and when I was speaking to people — it was really the question of kneeling that made people sit down and have conversations about race and their decision during the anthem and why they felt so staunch in their decision as well.”

.@100Purcent explains how kneeling on the field sparked important conversations within the NWSL and led to the creation of the @BWP_Collective.

Learn more about the Black Women's Player Collective, here: https://t.co/9W2nC4yHdT pic.twitter.com/uUi0h1vCFT

— Just Women’s Sports (@justwsports) October 19, 2021

Williams and Purce both remember one particular conversation during the 2020 Challenge Cup about how difficult the tournament’s bubble was with no fans, relentless summer heat, less-than-ideal food, and rigidly enforced isolation.

“I think all the conversations and the responsibility that the Black players on all the teams were being given and delegated to explain the dynamic of race in America, and then their experiences, their challenges, and their privileges — it became a lot,” Purce says.

The breaking point for Purce and many of the other Black players in the league was the NWSL’s response to the conversations around kneeling and the national protests.

“The NWSL — they kind of put the nail in the coffin, and they put out a statement that said that all the Black players were feeling great and supported and everything was like peachy keen. And that was kind of the point where we were like, ‘alright this is not great but you’re not going to speak for us,’ and that’s when we kind of just really galvanized everyone and we got together and we were like, let’s create our own voice.”

Williams echoes Purce, saying: “We were trying to play soccer to the best of our ability, in a pandemic, but then at the same time having all these really hard race conversations and trying to explain to our teammates why it was important to us to kneel.

“The moment that the league put out the statement that we [Black players] were all feeling supported, when we had been talking behind closed doors about how we are not feeling support, was definitely the turning point.”

Purce says the mission of the BWPC from the start was “not to attack” or “ostracize” anyone, but to ensure that “what we are thinking and our sentiments are accurately expressed to the public.”

Listen to the full conversation with Midge Purce here.

Cameron Brink already has her rookie of the year pick for the upcoming WNBA season, and it’s Indiana-bound star Caitlin Clark. 

In the latest edition of Kelley on the Street, host Kelley O'Hara caught up with Brink in New York hours before the Stanford phenom went No. 2 overall to the Los Angeles Sparks at the 2024 WNBA Draft. When O’Hara asked who would win the WNBA's rookie of the year, she answered without pause.

"Caitlin Clark," she said, while a fan commented that she thought Brink would take home the award. Brink later added that the extra foul granted to WNBA players will be "good for me."

"I hope it’s me," Charisma Osborne, who was later drafted by the Phoenix Mercury, said when asked her ROY prediction. "But, I don’t know — we’ll see."

Watch more of Kelley on the Street:

Maria Sanchez issued a statement on Thursday, confirming recent reports that she has requested a trade from the Houston Dash. 

In it, she revealed that the club has been aware of the request "since late March."

"This has all taken a toll and isn’t an easy thing to talk about, but I want to confirm that I’ve requested an immediate trade," she wrote. "My expectations and reasons have been clear. I trust that my current club’s management will honor my decision in a timely manner and proceed with accepting a trade."

"I’m eager to refocus and dive back into what I love most: playing football," she concluded.

Thank you, everyone, for the outpouring of kindness and support. pic.twitter.com/gcnN7dhCJU

— Maria Sanchez (@Maria17_7) April 19, 2024

Reports of Sanchez's trade request first surfaced on ESPN last week, and were later confirmed by multiple sources. 

In December of last year, Sanchez signed a three-year contract with the Dash valued at $1.5 million including bonuses and an option year. It was the largest contract in NWSL history at the time — a figure that would be eclipsed by multiple contracts in the following months. 

Sanchez spent the offseason as a restricted free agent, meaning that Houston could match any other team's offer to retain her rights. Should the Dash trade Sanchez, her current contract terms would remain intact, limiting potential buyers to teams able to afford to take on an inking of that size.

The Dash has yet to address the trade, instead reiterating to ESPN that Sanchez is "under contract, a choice she made in free agency at the end of 2023." 

Both the NWSL trade window and transfer window close tonight, April 19th, at 12 a.m. ET. The window will stay closed through the next 11 regular season games, reopening on August 1st, 2024.

The four-time league champion Seattle Storm unveiled their new practice facility on Thursday, with Storm co-owner Lisa Brummel dubbing Interbay's Seattle Storm Center for Basketball Performance the team’s "new home."

"It's just such a special space," Brummel told Fox 13 Seattle. "I think when the players get here, it's gonna be overwhelming."

The sprawling 50,000-square-foot, $64 million property is just the second designated practice facility to be designed and built expressly for a WNBA team, with the Storm further noting that 85% of all design and engineering team members involved in the project's construction were women and people of color. The finished product holds two professional indoor courts, two 3x3 outdoor courts, a state-of-the-art locker room, and players' lounge, plus designated areas for strength and conditioning, kitchen, dining, and nutrition, and recovery. 

"This facility reflects our commitment to providing our athletes an exceptional environment that supports their growth, health, and performance," said Storm co-owner Ginny Gilder in an official team release. "It’s built for women, by women, embodying our dedication to leading the way in professional women’s sports."

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For their part, the team can't wait to make the faciilty their own.

"It's amazing," Storm guard Jewell Loyd told Fox 13. "Not having to drive everywhere around, knowing you have access anytime of the day to get into the gym, to workout." 

Head coach Noelle Quinn said she predicts the team is "never going to leave this building."

"Which is a good thing for me," she continued. "You talk about having an edge in performance. We want our athletes to not only perform on the court, but get whatever they need."

All of the Storm's staff and operations will now live under one roof, and the team also has plans to launch a youth basketball program operating out of the building.

The Caitlin Clark effect is quickly making its mark on the big leagues, as WNBA host teams around the country rush to upgrade their Fever games to larger arenas in order to accommodate surging ticket sales.

With Clark mere weeks away from her Indiana Fever debut, both the Las Vegas Aces and Washington Mystics have officially relocated their scheduled home games with head coach Christie Sides' squad. On Thursday, the Mystics became the latest to adjust their plans, moving their June 7th matchup from Entertainment & Sports Arena in Southwest DC to the more centrally located — and much larger — Capital One Arena "due to unprecedented demand."

The Mystics home court's capacity taps out at 4,200, while Capital One Arena — home to the Wizards, Capitals, and Georgetown Hoya's Men's Basketball — can fit nearly five times that crowd at some 20,000 spectators.

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"The move to Capital One Arena will allow for additional fans in the stands as well as premium hospitality options, including Suites and the all-new all-inclusive courtside Hennessy Lofts," the team announced via Thursday's press release.

The Aces were one of the first teams to switch venues, aiming to take on the Indiana Fever in front of as many as 20,000 fans inside T-Mobile Arena on July 2nd. That’s a sizable a boost from their home venue, which holds just 12,000.

For those still planning to face the Fever in their home arenas, ticket prices have skyrocketed. Previously scheduled construction has already forced the LA Sparks to relocate their first five games — including their May 24th clash with the Fever — to Long Beach State's Walter Pyramid. The temporary venue is quite the downsize, holding just 4,000 in comparison to Crypto.com Arena's near-19,000. As of Friday, the get-in price for that game started around $400.

Despite fans launching a Change.org petition urging relocation, the Chicago Sky say they're unable to move their June 23rd Fever meeting from Wintrust Arena's 10,000-seat facility to the 23,500-seat United Center due to a concert. Tickets for that game start around $325 as of Friday.